Palingates posted a story on Sarah Palin’s upcoming television series (being produced by Fox as we speak) called ‘Real Americans’. The post, entitled “Real Americans”: From Neal Horsley to Sarah Palincan be read by clicking its title. And actually, to get the full import of my post, this post should be read first.

The final portion of the Palingates article deals with Neal Horsley, a man who has made his way into the news of late by advertising his candidacy for governor to the state of Georgia in the 2010 election, alongside a news article for having been arrested for putting a bounty on the head of Elton John. Because nothing says ELECT ME better than airing a hit list ?!?!

I was bemused reading about Mr. Horsley’s over-the-top religious antics, albeit a bit mortified at the reality some other nutcake out there might take Mr. Horsley at his word and actually try to harm Sir John for having dared to publicly show improper evangelical reverence to Jesus, the irony of which did not escape me.

Elton John referred to Jesus as a ‘gay man’, a remark which sparked frenzy in bible thumpers of all ilk. The irony, of course, is if one follows the teachings of Jesus, one knows he preached the turning of the other cheek and forgiveness. Nowhere in the bible does it say “when thine brother maketh a joke about you putteth his name on a list engraven in stone and in my and my father’s name cast rocks at his irreverent skull.” (pfft)

While reading about Neal Horsley I experienced one of those odd and somewhat annoying déjà’vu moments where you know you’ve experienced this before but can’t quite put your finger on when or where. So off I went to google and it took all of ten seconds for the memory to flood back with a troubling thud of clarity. The Nuremberg files.

First, the Nuremberg Trials were a very big deal when I was a kid. They were about making some sadistic people accountable for their part in the torture and killing of more than 6 million Jews during the 12 years of the Holocaust, prior to and during WWII. For almost thirty years the trials took place as survivors identified and authorities in all countries cooperated in ferreting out the sadists from their hiding places. It was a very big deal, indeed.

For Neal Horsley to create a public hit-list comprised of medical personnel who provided women with all sorts of health services including the legal option of abortion, and then name this contemptible list after the Nuremberg trials as if there were any connection, was morally reprehensible. When the news of his internet site was made public, I was among those who passionately followed the story. It was my moment of Zen. It was my reckoning with the internet and the realization that no one would ever have privacy ever again. And I tried desperately to make sense out of people who killed people in the name of God. I mean if your cause is one of hating perceived murderers, would you not want to refrain from advocating becoming a murderer yourself?

The Nuremberg Files made public how easy the internet was going to make it for people with felonious thoughts and intentions to find where anyone lived, worked, ate, shopped, schooled, walked, travelled, played or slept. And in the ensuing 11 years, nothing much has been done to reconnect us, the public, to our pre-internet privacy. Wiki has a comprehensive record of events surrounding this website here.

Of particular interest, the website for the political party to which Neal Horsley claimed qualification to run for governor was removed in 2007. I have not put any effort into researching where it went or what it may have become. Perhaps one of you would be interested in following that trail. The party name was the Creator’s Rights Party

I did pursue clips from the movies Neal Horsley produced about his beliefs, including one titled Soldiers in the Army of God. The movie info can be read here on IMDB, but I couldn’t find any clips or trailers. A review by Christopher T. Chase is telling:

“The fact that these extremists are more intelligent than one would expect, makes their fervent belief in their cause, and their willingness to do whatever is necessary to advance that agenda, that much more chilling. Perhaps the point best made by this doc is that if more talking were done, there might be a way to implement a better alternative to bombs, guns, assassinations and extra security at women’s health clinics. At least in the cases of those who are willing to explore such possibilities. As for those whose fervor has passed from pathology into absolute dementia, that’s a subject for a whole other documentary, one that would probably make a fitting sequel to this.”

Scanning youtube had nothing to offer (that I found) but it did give me the following video, which I have embedded in hopes you’ll buckle up and watch it straight through. I admit it’s a hard listen. But I highly recommend you hang on to the bitter end and then read carefully the editors closing comments. Then jump in a shower and wash it all off.

These are the numinous minds inspired by Sarah Palin. This is the reason we work to make her redundant.

And now that you’ve watched the video, remember that Facebook is preparing to launch a new feature – the ability for any reader to identify the current physical address of any FB client just by mousing over their avatar. One need not be a friend. Avatars appear on generic search lists. The Facebook locator will instantly show the reader the exact location (continent, country, county, town, suburb, streetname and number) of the person behind the avatar AT THE TIME OF THEIR LATEST POSTING. Which quite simply means any interested burglar can readily find when you’re at home, at work, just out shopping or on vacation.

Stalkers will be able to track you without leaving their couch. Kidnappers will be able to map your daily routine without ever risking being noticed. The FB Locator feature will be like a personal GPS for murderers, rapists, child molesters, kidnappers, thieves, home invaders and yes, even in-laws you told you’d be out of town when you weren’t. The ramifications of this feature are certain to make hit lists, such as those created by Neal Horsley, blueprints for the future of domestic terrorism.

On the other hand, this service will give away Sarah’s ghost-writers and show us where they’re all hiding. So maybe there’s a silver-lining after all.

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title Sarah’s Followers: A Violent Breed and click on the word commentsjust beneath, Thanks, OzMud

“Soldiers in the Army of God” is actually a pretty good documentary about some people active in the extremist end of the anti-abortion movement. They range from mildly sympathetic to holy-crap-is-this-person-for-real?. It is not a propaganda piece by any means.

@Gindy – meant to mention earlier but got sidetracked (rofl) I once ‘allowed’ a FB application by accident. I was going through the page of invites/requests and there was a bit of lag. End result was I clicked on one button, but the mouse didn’t register the click until it was hovering over a second button and before I knew what had happened I was a proud member of “Women who like fat men” – hahahaha

Thing is, I can see this happening to people, especially those who can ‘just’ get around on their computer. Also, the allow buttons are often worded poorly, adding to a person’s confusion.

Another example of this is in my updated version of IE. In the past, when you opened a window that had ‘unsecure content’ the prompt read “Would you like to view the unsecure content? yes – no”

It now reads “Would you like to only view the secure content and not trust the unsecure content? yes – no” and my brain has to flip over a five year habit of answering ‘yes’ if I want to see, for example, the avatar’s, graphics or links in people’s comments.

I can only imagine how difficult avoiding the allowance of an unwanted application can be for the older folks who use FB just to be in tune with their grandkids 🙂